Author: Ilika Priya

Chittu, the donkey loved music. He’d spend all day listening to it. He’d turn the volume on his TV all the way up and listen to songs all day. The neighbors were having a tough time but the passed it off a phase.

One day, a religious function was being conducted at Chittu’s house. To make things a little more lively, Chitty hired a sound system and played some music. The music was so loud, that the kids in the area came running from their homes to take part in the festivities. Seeing the kids having so much fun, Chittu turned up the volume even more.

Bhondu, the donkey said “Chittu, please reduce the volume immediately. Otherwise you will regret it.”

Chittu was deeply insulted by Bhondu’s remarks and turned the volume up even more. The entire neighborhood shook with music.

“The music is so loud because of a silly fight between Bhondu and Chittu. It’s best not to get involved in such childish fights,” said everybody and moved on.

While Chittu half expected the neighborhood to come at him with sticks, he was surprised to find that nobody tried to stop him. He breathed a sigh of relief. But, he still wasn’t done with Bhondu. The music continued to blare through the night.

The rest of the neighborhood stuffed cotton in their ears and went to sleep.

“Don’t get involved in a fight between two donkeys. They’ll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience,” the others advised each other.

The entire neighborhood heaved a collective sigh of relief when it was time for Chittu to return the sound system.

Six months later, it was Van Mahotsav, the annual tree planting festival. All the animals of the forest were gearing up not only to plant more trees but to have a lot of fun. As he was getting ready himself, a bulb went off inside Chittu’s head.

“Why not buy a sound system ourselves?” he thought. “It would be mine and I can play my favorite songs whenever I want without having to return it. Plus, none of the other animals stopped me last time.”

Soon, Chittu had his very own sound system which he showed off to the rest of the neighborhood by playing his favorite songs.

“Hey Chittu, Van Mahotsav isn’t for another four days. Why have you started the celebrations already?” asked Lallu, the languor.

“It’s my sound system. I’ll do what I want!” said Chittu curtly.

Lallu knew better than to argue with Chittu and walked away. Seeing Lallu’s reaction, Chittu felt that everybody was afraid of him. He thought he could get away with anything.

Drunk with power, he began playing music every day. The music would start blaring at five in the morning and stop late at night. Ginny, the koel who gets up early and helps her kids with their home work asked Chittu to turn it down.

Chittu said, “If you’re having trouble, then I suggest that you stuff your ears with cotton. Neither am I going to turn off the music, nor will I turn it down.”

“What’s wrong with Chittu?” wondered Ginny. “He was fine till yesterday. Now he’s talking like he’s the king of the world. I think he’s misunderstood everybody’s silence for fear. I must put an end to this.”

Ginny approached police inspector Bholu, the bear. Inspector Bholu went to Chittu’s house and ensure that he turned the music off.

When inspector Bholu left, Chittu began throwing a fit. “How dare he tell me to turn the music off. I’ll show him!” he said and two hours later, music blared through Chittu’s speakers louder than ever before. All the kids of the neighborhood gathered in front of Chittu’s house and started dancing.

“I have to teach Chittu a lesson,” said Ginny to herself. She called up inspector Bholu and narrated her plan to him.

When the police jeep entered the neighborhood, the entire area was in pandemonium. Inspector Bholu sternly scolded Chittu and warned him that if he played loud music again, he would regret it. When inspector Bholu left, Chittu immediately took to the streets and began narrating his sad story to anybody who’d listen.

“Ginny shouldn’t have done such a thing. Today was a day of celebration and such things happen during celebrations. You have to adjust and let such things happen and not think only of your happiness,” said the animals of the neighborhood.

The animals also started avoiding Ginny. “This is so unfair.” She thought, “I did it for all of us. His music was a nuisance to the entire neighborhood.” She immediately withdrew her complaint.

When Chittu came to know of this, he was delighted and turned on his sound system once again. All the kids came running back and they had a gala time. He bought a mic and began singing too and then purchased a battery in case the power went out.

While the neighborhood had a good time for a few days, soon, they started getting tired of the same old songs and all the noise. They realized that they should have supported Ginny before.

While Chittu’s music blared, Lallu thought, he should play his favorite songs too and rented a couple of loud speakers and a CD player. Similar thoughts were shared by other animals and they too rented out their own sound systems.

A peaceful neighborhood was now filled with noise. Either it was Chittu’s system, or it was Lallu’s or it was somebody else’s. Sometimes it was everybody’s.

Day in, day out, through the night and all the time, music blared across the neighborhood. “I can’t take this anymore!” shouted Pampi, the parrot, one morning. His neighbors agreed and they all approached Ginny.

“It was to avoid this precise moment that I tried putting an end to Chittu’s music in the first place. If you don’t stop wrongdoers, then their actions stop being wrong and soon, the entire world starts doing it. Any bad thing needs to be stopped as soon as it starts. Otherwise it will take over.” she said.

All the animals apologized to Ginny and decided that they need to come together to stop Chittu. They gathered together and walked over to Chittu’s house. Seeing an angry mob approaching, Chittu started feeling nervous and switched off the music. The other animals playing music switched it off too.

“Please don’t make noise and disgrace name of music. Don’t let such things happen and please don’t let such things continue. If your intention is to entertain, do it in such a way that the people enjoy it. Don’t disturb the peace,” said Ginny.

Chittu felt very bad and hung his head in shame and apologized and the rest of the neighborhood went back to celebrating Van Mahotsav.